Autonomous underwater vehicles (“AUVs”) are used in both naval and industrial applications. Due to their limited operating range, they require regular servicing to recharge batteries, refuel, etc. It is often desirable to perform this servicing at sea from a mother ship.
Recharging or refueling operations require the engagement of various connectors to couple various wires or hoses. Conducting these operations at sea requires that the mother ship and the auxiliary craft (e.g., AUV, etc.) be stabilized with respect to one another. These operations can be labor intensive and present certain risks, especially if performed in higher sea states.
Existing approaches for connecting an auxiliary craft to a mother ship for service, as disclosed in the following references, have various drawbacks.
US Application No. 20060191457 A1 discloses a marine payload handling craft and system for launching and recovering marine vehicles. The system includes a catamaran docking station, which includes an elevator. The system, which is attached to a larger vessel, receives the smaller vessel as it is driven onto the docking station.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,390,012 B1 discloses an apparatus and method for deploying and servicing an underwater vessel from a larger vessel. The apparatus utilizes a connector latching system that includes a maneuverable and remotely-operated underwater vessel to physically engage a receptor on the autonomous underwater vessel.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,698,376 B2 discloses a device for launching and recovering an underwater vehicle that utilizes a submerged docking station. The docking station includes lower and upper chassis that are connected by flexible cables so that distance between the two chassis can be adjusted. The chassis form a receiving cage to support and hold the underwater vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,536,023 A discloses a system for handling small submarines. The system utilizes an elevator system that is suspended from a surface ship for lifting the submarine. Counterweights are located below the surface of the water to restrain the motion of the elevator and a hoisting arrangement drives the elevator.
The prior art devices are relatively complex and require significant manual intervention. This results in relatively high costs and potential reliability problems. Simply put, the prior art does not provide an effective servicing solution.